Breaking New Grounds
by SalsaBaby
Summary: After an incident leaves S.H.I.E.L.D agent Clint Barton unsettled and alone, Nick Fury assigns him a new partner. Enter Dr. Barbara Morse, a beautiful yet mysterious Biologist, who forces Clint to confront new challenges and old faces.


Clint sat at the table in the middle of the silent, empty white room, anxiously waiting for Fury's arrival. Normally, he would conjure up reasons for why Fury would want to speak to him and the smart ass responses he would give in return for wasting his time, but this was different. He knew exactly why he was there and he would do anything to avoid this confrontation. He knew he'd have no chance of getting Fury, and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D, off of his case if he showed any sign of guilt. Clint laid his head on his interlocked fingers and attempted to calm down. He tried to focus on clearing his mind, but before he got a chance to grasp mental stability he was interrupted by the sound of the door closing as Fury entered the room.

"Agent Barton! Good to see you," Fury exclaimed.

Clint knew he was too late, not to mention Fury could see right through any of his bullshit, so he just decided to go with whatever Fury chose to throw at him. Clint stood up in respect to Fury. "Pleasure is all mine, Sir."

Fury pulled a seat from the table and sat down. Clint stood, confused; he noticed something was missing.

"Wait… shouldn't we wait for Agent Hill?" He asked.

"Hill? Oh no, she can't make it. She's looking over a few missions for me. It's just going to be us. You can sit." Clint knew something was up, but he didn't want to make matters worse so he kept his mouth shut and sat back down.

"Now Barton, I assume you have some sort of idea why we're here," Fury said placing his briefcase on the table.

Clint's heart started racing and his body warmed up. "Yes…yes Sir. I just want to say that I-"

"Hold it," Fury interrupted, "But that's not the reason that we're here." Clint sat back in relief.

"Don't get me wrong, this involves the incident, but that's not what I needed to talk to you about."

Any relief Clint had immediately converted back to anxiety. He was flabbergasted; he had no idea what Fury was getting at. "So, what is the exact reason we're here?" He asked. Clint felt like he was on a sick game show. The type that asks you a question like "what's the capital of California", then once you get it right they ask you the winning question: "the man who invented the shoelace had a cousin who visited his sister in regards to an old friend's death. What was that friend's name?"  
Before Fury had a chance to respond, the door opened and they heard the sound of a woman's raspy voice.

"Sorry, I hope I'm not too late, I had a late flight. Did I miss anything?" The woman asked.

Fury turned around to the woman. "We were actually just getting started." He stood up to greet her. "Agent Barton, this is Dr. Barbara Morse."

"Hello Agent Barton, you can call me Bobbi if you like. Dr. Barbara Morse sounds so protocol," She smiled and put her hand out.

Clint remained seated; he completely ignored the fact she was trying to shake his hand. He wasn't trying to be rude, he was in disbelief. There standing before him was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. He looked her up and down. She had long, light blonde hair pulled up in a bun, with the strands of her bangs loose in front of her face. Under her lab coat she wore a fitted, button up blouse tucked into a high waisted skirt and high heels that emphasized her statuesque figure.

"Barton, Dr. Morse is trying to introduce herself," Fury said sternly.

Clint was shaken out of his mindless stare. "Of course," He said as he shot out of his chair to shake her hand. He was still a little speechless, so he said what he could manage. "Barton."  
Morse slightly laughed as she pulled her hand away from his. Clint felt like idiot. "Smooth Barton," He thought to himself.

"Now that we're all acquainted we can start," Fury stated.

The three of them sat down. "Dr. Morse would you like to start us off?" Fury asked. Fury opened the briefcase and pulled out a stack of papers, he handed them to Morse. As she went through the papers with Fury she began talking, but Clint had no idea was she was saying. He just sat and continued to stare at her. He just couldn't believe why she was here. Not that he minds a beautiful girl visiting him but still. Was she _really_ a scientist working for S.H.I.E.L.D? She did not look like the kind of girl who would be interested in any form of science, let alone have a doctorate. Speaking of, how did she have a doctorate?! She appeared to be in her early 20's, if that. Then, Clint busted out in realization.

"Wait! Fury, I thought you said it was just going to be the two us? You never mentioned she was going to be here!"

The two stopped what they were doing and looked up from the papers. "You never asked. You asked if Agent Hill was going to be here, which in return I answered 'No.' Also, I never said it was going to be _just_ the two of us. Now, can you let Dr. Morse speak?" For some reason, this was all too much for Clint to process and to avoid any further confusion he just sat back and let them continue. There was a moment of silence at the table. Morse turned to give a Fury a look that clearly read: 'why the hell am I here with this idiot?', which he understood completely. "As I was saying…" She continued.

Clint knew by the way Fury was reacting that what Morse had to say was important. He almost considered listening until he saw how big the stack of papers was, not to mention he couldn't understand the scientific nomenclature in the conversation. So instead he decided to resume staring at her and pretend like he's listening. He'd add a "mhm", "oh" or "I see" every now and again to show them that he was paying attention.

It came to a point where he found himself mesmerized by her turquoise eyes that were concealed by her glasses. He'd never seen a more beautiful shade of blue. The only thing he could think of comparing them to was a picture of the ocean that was taken sometime during the fall.

Minutes passed until Morse put down the papers and Clint zoned back into reality. "So, are you done?" He asked.

"You could say that. The rest is just a longer, belabored point of what I just explained," She said as she handed the papers back to Fury.

"So Agent Barton, I take it you understand why Dr. Morse is here, right?" Fury asked.

Clint decided to play this off the best he could. "Oh yeah, it all makes sense," He said as he shoot Morse a cocky smirk.

"Good, because you'll be watching over her while she works with S.H.I.E.L.D."

Clint didn't know what to be more pissed about: the fact that he may have to admit that he had no idea what she just explained or that Fury just assigned him on babysitting duty. "I'm sorry, Sir?! You want me to what?"

"What's the matter Barton? Based on the way you were gawking at her, I assumed you were heavily concentrating on what she had to say. So you should have no problem helping her out. Besides, this is a win-win situation. She has one of S.H.I.E.L.D's best agents protecting her and she can make sure you don't do anything stupid."

Clint was offended, not only was Fury accusing of him making stupid decisions but he said that he was "one of S.H.I.E.L.D's best agents". If anything he _was_ the best!

Clint slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, but before he could respond, Fury put his hand to his ear set. "This is Fury… Yes we're done here…What about the other one?...Good," Fury stopped talking and stood up. "There is a helicopter outside for the two of you, I suggest you guys get going."

"Wait, where are you going?!" Clint asked, stumbling to make his way to Fury."We're not done here!"

"_You_ may not be done here, but I have other things I have to do." Fury started walking towards the door. "One more thing, Dr. Morse, you're in charge."

Clint watched the door close behind Fury as he stood next to Morse.

"Why would he put you in charge?" Clint asked sounding like an insolent child.

"I don't know, maybe it's because I don't get upset when I'm not put in charge," Morse said as she finished packing up the briefcase.

Clint stood there processing the comment she made. "That doesn't make any sense."

Morse shut the briefcase. "Oh well there we go, that could be another reason."

Clint could have argued with her, but he remembered that the two of them were alone. And there was no way he was going to blow his chance with a gorgeous girl like Morse.

"So, Dr. Barbara Morse-"

"Call me either Bobbi or Morse," She corrected.

"Okay, _Morse_ where do you think Fury is sending us off to?" He said in a coy manner.

She rolled her eyes as she walked past him. "We're going to my apartment."

"Oh Dr. Morse, what kind of guy do you take me for? At least buy me dinner first."

She stopped and turned around to find him with his arms crossed and a cheesy smile on his face. "Just saying," He said as he winked at her.

"God you are such an idiot." She continued walking. "Are you coming? Cause I will leave you."

He caught up to her and put his arm around her. "C'mon, have a sense of humor," He laughed. Although he quickly removed his arm when he saw the glare she gave it.

The walk to the helicopter had to have been the longest time Clint had ever gone without speaking, causing it to feel like the longest walk he had ever taken. There were two S.H.I.E.L.D agents standing by the helicopter awaiting their arrival, one holding a case. When Clint and Morse approached the helicopter one of the agents helped her get situated, while the other handed Clint the case he was holding.

"Fury mentioned you would be needing this," He said.

Clint grabbed the case and climbed inside the helicopter. Although there was plenty of room in the back for the two, Clint took it upon himself to sit as close to Morse as he possibly could without getting punched in the face. The two got settled in and the helicopter was ready to take off.

Even though Morse could hear him perfectly well through the headset, he still felt it necessary to lean in closer to her. "So, what's the deal with you and Fury?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Depends," She answered as she looked through the window.

Ignoring Morse's attempt to distance herself, Clint creeped closer. "On what?" He asked.

Morse turned back around to find herself face to face with Clint. "What's the deal with your old partner, Natasha?"

Clint slowly pulled away, and sat back in silence. He had completely forgotten the whole reason he was there in the first place. It wasn't until then that this whole thing with Morse started to make sense. The guilt and pain he had felt earlier slowly began coursing through his body. Fury wasn't assigning anyone to watch over anyone, he was assigning Clint a _new_ partner.

Clint moved closer to the window opposite of Morse. "You know, I'm not really in the mood for talking."


End file.
